Scent From Above
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: A teenage girl presents with complete and unknown respiratory failure. Can House and his team figure out what's wrong with her before it's too late? And in the meantime, Chase has some personal problems to work through. Script set in S7
1. Chapter 1

**House M.D.**

**Scent From Above**

**Teaser

* * *

**

_(A woman is standing alone in the kitchen of a large Victorian house. Her name is Thelma Ratzman. She is short, with long dark hair and a pretty face. She is wearing an apron around her waist as she's bustling from the counter, chopping up fruit; to the stove, tending to something frying in a pan; then to the fridge, searching around inside. The sun is shown rising from the east window. Apparently, Thelma is busy making breakfast for her family. Setting a carton of milk on the table, she turns and walks briskly over to a nearby staircase and yells up it.)_

Thelma: Paul! Katie! Are you up yet? Get down here, it's time to eat!

_(She bustles back to her position in the kitchen when she hears footsteps coming down. A tall, thin man suddenly appears at the foot of the stairs, hurriedly tying a tie around his neck. He has a kind face, and a few flecks of gray in his brown hair. This man is Paul Ratzman: Thelma's husband. He smiles at his wife, pecking her on the cheek before sitting down at the table, still fumbling with the tie.)_

Paul _(distractedly, about the breakfast)_: Looks great, hun...

_(Thelma smiles as she sets a plate of scrambled eggs and fruit salad in front of him. She then reaches up and pulls the tie out of his grasp and begins to tie it properly. Paul grins sheepishly.)_

Paul: Thanks.

_(Thelma straightens the tied tie a bit before pressing a quick kiss to his forehead.)_

Thelma: No problem, dear._ (indicating the food in front of him)_ Dig in.

_(As Paul grabs today's paper, popping a piece of cantaloupe into his mouth, Thelma walks back over to the staircase.)_

Thelma _(yelling up the stairs)_: Katie! On the double! Don't make me come up there! _(now walking back to the table, grumbling)_ Honestly, that girl might as well just sleep-walk through life, she's so lazy...

Paul _(chuckling)_: Just like her dad in so many ways.

_(Thelma chuckles too, now pouring out two mugs of coffee. She carries them over to the table, setting one in front of her, then in front of her husband. She brings her mug to her lips, takes a sip, and immediately starts coughing it up.)_

Paul _(concerned)_: You okay?

_(Sputtering, Thelma tries indicating to her husband that she's okay. Suddenly, a girl with shoulder-length dark brown hair jumps down the steps. Katie Ratzman, Paul and Thelma's 16-year-old daughter, is wearing skinny jeans, a purple t-shirt, and black Converse high tops. She grins as she bounds up to her parents, noticing her mother's retching.)_

Katie _(brightly)_: Whoa, Dad - You're down here for two minutes without me, and you nearly choke Mom to death? Hate to see what would happen after five!

_(Paul smirks at his daughter, who quickly walks up and presses an exaggerated kiss to his cheek. Thelma finally regains control of her breathing, pressing a napkin to her lips.)_

Paul _(happily)_: See? Your mother's fine; completely alive. Don't worry, we'll get her next time. _(he winks at his daughter, who giggles.)_

Thelma _(sarcastically)_: Aw, you guys are so sweet. _(Paul laughs, and Thelma turns her attention to Katie)_ So, Katie – how'd you sleep last night?

Katie _(rolling her eyes)_: Terribly. Stupid pre-calc homework keeping me up into the unholy hours of the night... _(she walks over to her chair at the table and plops herself down.)_

Thelma: Well, sweetie, you should've asked me for help. I was considered a great mathematical brain back in my day, y'know.

_(Katie smiles, but then her face drops all of a sudden. She begins to cough.)_

Paul _(jovially)_: Sweetie, don't poke fun at your mother, now. She was only trying to help...

_(Katie shakes her head, still coughing and sputtering. Rather than turning darker shades of red, her face is slowly and steadily getting paler.)_

Paul _(his smile fading)_: Sweetie?

Thelma _(urgently)_: She hasn't eaten anything yet: what could she be choking on?

_(Katie, now positively gasping for air, slides off her chair and onto the floor, clutching her chest. Her parents leap up, running toward her.)_

Thelma _(wailing)_: Katie!

Paul _(turning to his wife)_: Call 911! Hurry!

_(Thelma immediately obeys, running toward the phone. Paul kneels beside his daughter, a look of panic on his face as her lips begin to turn blue.)_

Paul: KATIE!

**End Teaser**

**Theme song

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**

**Now, on with the show...**

**Scene 1**

_(House is sitting in Exam Room One with all the lights off. He's stretched lazily out on the patient bed, a yoyo dangling over the edge from his finger, the toy spinning and dipping every time House's hand twitches. His head is thrown back on the pillow. Someone opens the door and pops on the light, and House looks up.)_

_(Cuddy is standing in the doorway, a blue file folder in her hand. House smiles slightly.)_

Cuddy: 'Morning, sunshine.

House: It's the morning? Huh, no wonder my afternoon nap felt a little sooner than usual...

_(House sits up, and Cuddy strides over. They peck each other on the lips. Cuddy is smiling now.)_

House _(grinning)_: Still hot.

Cuddy _(handing the folder over)_: You've got a case.

House _(face falling slightly)_: Less hot...

Cuddy: Sixteen-year-old girl, complete respiratory collapse. No sign of toxins, drugs - -

House _(interrupting)_: You know, as _fascinating_ as teenage girls with asthma are, I just don't think this case is going to delve into my interest levels much more than these runny noses I'm going to have to treat are.

Cuddy _(pressing the folder impatiently into his hands)_: She has no record of asthma or breathing-related illnesses before this. There are no masses in her lungs. Tests for pulmonary infection, bronchitis, and pneumonia all came back negative – and she _still_ can't breathe properly.

_(House stares at her for a second before looking down and opening the folder in his hands. He reads for a second before closing it, tucking it under his arm, and standing up.)_

House: Looks like I'm gonna have to push my afternoon nap to tomorrow morning, then.

_(He smirks at her before limping toward the door. Cuddy watches him leave, an amused smile on her lips.) _

~/~

_(Camera pans in on the conference room. Taub, Chase, Foreman, and Thirteen are all sitting around the table as House limps through the door.)_

House: We have a case.

_(He throws four identical file folders onto the table. The four doctor's pick them up curiously. House walks toward the other side of the room, gazing out the window.)_

Thirteen _(reading)_: Sixteen-year-old girl... complete respiratory failure...

Foreman: Legionnaires' disease?

Taub: No crackling sounds in her lungs. What about Laryngospasm?

Chase: No, she would have gotten better here. Ventricular septal defect?

_(House suddenly starts making clip-clopping noises with his tongue. Everyone stares at him.)_

House _(turning away from the window)_: Sorry. _(rolls his eyes in an exaggerated fashion)_ Those damn zebras keep running through this room; makes a racket...

Chase _(defensive)_: What? Ventricular defect could fit. And I figured if you took this case, you would've had to rule out all the usual suspects...

Thirteen _(quickly)_: Her heart's fine. _(Chase looks at her, but she's staring fixedly at the file) _It says here she went to a cabin in the woods with her friends last week: what about smoke inhalation? Building fires in a fireplace with a group of teenagers, they probably didn't know how to work the flue. If there's still some smoke left in her system it would explain all her symptoms.

House_ (nodding)_: Right. Thirteen and Foreman – go increase the girl's oxygen, and Taub – get a history.

_(Taub and Foreman both get up and start heading toward the door, while Chase is left sitting stupidly at the table, Thirteen gazing at him sympathetically. House turns around and limps toward his office without a glance back.) _

Thirteen _(to Chase, concerned): _Is everything all right?

Chase _(closing his folder, looking cross)_: Yes. Why wouldn't it be?

Thirteen: Well, it's just that back there you- -

Chase _(interrupting)_: I'm fine, Thirteen. Really, there's no need to act all concerned.

_(He still sounds rather upset, and Thirteen decides to drop it. She silently gathers up her file folder and begins to head for the door.)_

Chase _(nettled)_: A heart defect could have fit.

_(Thirteen stops where she is, and turns to look at Chase, a kind smile secured on her face.)_

Thirteen: I know

_(She turns around and heads out into the hallway, out of sight.)_

~/~

_(Camera pans in on the patient's room. In the center of the room is a large bed containing a girl, her brown hair disheveled, her eyes bloodshot, and an oxygen mask over her face. Thelma and Paul Ratzman are standing off to the side, looking harassed and worried as they gaze upon their daughter. Foreman is reading her chart while Thirteen is fiddling with a knob behind the bed. Taub is scribbling something down on his clipboard.)_

Taub _(to the parents)_: Has she been complaining of anything after she came back from the cabin? Pain? Nausea? Trouble breathing?

Thelma _(nervously)_: No. Do you think she got sick up north, then?

Taub: It's likely. However, it seems like she merely inhaled too much smoke when she and her friends built campfires.

Paul: Well, is it treatable?

Taub: We'll keep her here overnight and have someone in the room to check her vitals every hour and eventually ween her off the oxygen, but yeah – you guy's will have your daughter back in no time.

_(Taub smiles assuredly at the two, who sigh with immense relief. Paul wraps his arms around his wife, who hugs him back.)_

_(Suddenly, all the machines start beeping at once.)_

Thirteen: Taub!

_(Taub whips around. Katie's eyes slide up into her head, and her whole body starts shaking violently. She is having a seizure. Thirteen, Taub, and Foreman dash forward, struggling to hold down her flailing limbs. Paul and Thelma stand board stiff, scandalized.)_

Thelma _(shouting over the ruckus, hysterical)_: Wh – What is this? What does this mean?

_(Taub looks up at the two, still wrestling with Katie's bucking body. He exchanges a small glance with Thirteen.)_

Taub: It means that we were wrong.

**End Scene 1**

**~To Be Continued~

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**

**A/N: Let me just point out that I'm not a real doctor. I am just a sixteen-year-old girl who loves to watch House and thought she'd try her hand at writing a story about it. I have no real medical expertise – all the information I get is either from the show or from my own knowledge. If there are any real doctors out there reading this story and I screw up a term or something, please don't be offended or anything. I promise you, am trying my very best.**

**Anyway, if you like it so far, please review! I would very much like to continue this if you all approve of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**House M.D**

**Scent From Above**

**Scene 2

* * *

**

_(House, Thirteen, Foreman, Chase, and Taub are all in the conference room, gazing at the white board. On it is written 'Resp. Fail' and 'Seizures' in House's sloppy handwriting. Everyone is sitting down except Foreman and House, the latter pacing back and forth while flipping a purple dry-erase marker in his fingers. Foreman is merely staring at the whiteboard with his brow furrowed, his arms crossed in front of his chest.)_

House: So what causes both complete respiratory failure and seizures?

Taub: Epilepsy? In rare cases it can present in teenagers.

Thirteen _(shaking her head)_: Wouldn't account for the respiratory problems. Acute intermittent porphyria?

House: If she had AIP this severe, her parents would have noticed symptoms long before this – fainting spells or paranoid delusions.

Chase: Some complications of influenza can include breathing problems and seizures.

House _(sarcastically)_: Really? Are you sure the problem isn't in the heart?

_(Chase glares at him. House merely returns to pacing in contemplation.)_

Foreman: An undiagnosed food allergy could explain her symptoms. We should run a scratch test then have someone search the home.

_(House thinks for a second, then nods.)_

House: Good. Foreman – you go search the home. Thirteen – run a scratch test and, if it's positive, start her on steroids. Taub – go and draw blood and run cultures.

_(Once again, Chase is left out. Taub and Thirteen head out the door and turn left. House follows them out the door and turns right, obviously going to go visit Wilson for awhile. Foreman stays back, taking pity on Chase.)_

Foreman _(bracingly)_: C'mon. I'll need some help searching the home.

Chase _(sulkily)_: No thanks. I've got some things to do here anyway.

_(He gets up and stalks out the door. Foreman is left standing there, looking concerned as he watches Chase's figure walk away.)_

_~/~_

_(Camera pans in on the patient's room. Thelma and Paul are in the cafeteria, so it is only Katie there when Taub and Thirteen walk in. She looks tired and pale, but slightly better, for she is finally off the oxygen mask. She smiles when the two doctors begin setting up for their various tests.)_

Katie: I feel a little better now. That's a good thing, right?

Thirteen _(smiling slightly)_: Of course it's a good thing. But we're just running some tests to see what caused you to become ill in the first place.

Taub _(glancing up at his colleague, smirking)_: Of course, Thirteen. Because it is _always_ a good thing when a patient is feeling better.

_(Thirteen's cheeks redden, and Katie giggles. The girl then suddenly looks up at Thirteen with interest.)_

Katie: Your name is actually 'Thirteen'? Like the number?

Thirteen _(glaring sarcastically at Taub)_: It's just a nickname.

Katie _(turning to Taub on her other side)_: So does that make your nickname 'Seven' or something?

Taub _(smirking, shaking his head)_: Nah. Mickey Mantle's not really my number.

_(Katie gets the joke, and begins to laugh. Taub can't help but chuckle as he begins to draw blood from her arm. Thirteen looks questioningly between the two.)_

Thirteen: What is so funny?

_(Katie's laughter finally fades, but she still giggles slightly as she answers her.)_

Katie: It's a Seinfeld joke... kinda hard to explain...

_(Katie looks back at Taub, who winks at her before stowing away the full vial of blood. He looks up at Thirteen, who looks incredulously shocked.)_

Taub: Shouldn't you be doing the scratch test now... _Thirteen_?

_(Taub smirks as he gathers his things, gets up, and walks out the door. Katie giggles again as Thirteen just watches him leave, her eyes still wide with reproach.)_

~/~

_(Camera pans in on the front lobby of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where several people in either lab coats or scrubs bustle around, doing various tasks. The elevator doors open, and out steps Dr. Chase, his patient's file in his hand. He's reading it as he steps out into the lobby and makes his way to the front desk. He doesn't look up from the file until he's several feet away. When he finally does look up, he freezes in his tracks, his eyes wide and staring.)_

_(Cameron is standing by the front door, gazing at him. When she sees that he noticed her, she gives a tentative wave and smile. Chase doesn't make a move toward her, so Cameron takes a deep breath and strides up to him.)_

Cameron _(breathlessly)_: Hey.

Chase _(expressionless)_: What are you doing here?

_(Cameron looks taken aback slightly, but remains silent. Chase's voice still sounds stony.)_

Chase _(cont.)_: It's not enough that you call me at six a.m. this morning? You couldn't take my dignity over the phone so you have to come and humiliate me at work instead?

Cameron_ (eyes wide)_: No, not at all! I – I just wanted to talk to you, that's all. And since you wouldn't let me say what I needed to say over the phone, then- -

Chase _(stowing away his folder, interrupting)_: Just because we're divorced doesn't mean I'm letting you have rite of passage into my daily affairs.

_(He turns to leave. Cameron watches him walk away, a worried look on her face.)_

Cameron _(blurting out)_: I had a scare last week.

_(Chase freezes in his tracks, Cameron watching him warily. He then turns slowly around to face her again. His face turns slightly less stony as a flicker of fear crosses his features.)_

Chase: Pregnancy?

_(Cameron nods.)_

Cameron: Please, Chase. Can we just talk about it?

_(Chase still looks slightly wary)_

Chase: But you're not pregnant, right? It was just a scare, is all?

Cameron _(earnestly)_: Please, Chase? I really have something I need to say.

_(Chase eyes her for a second, hesitant, then nods. He jerks his head toward the cafeteria and politely waits for her to walk ahead of him until he follows her out of the lobby.)_

~/~

_(Camera pans in on the patient room, where Thirteen and Katie are alone. Thirteen has obviously finished the scratch test, and is putting it away. Katie is sitting up in bed, watching her. Katie's eyes suddenly get wide, her face growing pale.)_

Katie _(blustering)_: Uhm... Dr. Hadley? Could you, maybe... um...?

_(Thirteen turns around, but not before Katie leans forward and vomits over her blanket. Thirteen backs away in surprise as Katie looks up at her, mortified.)_

Katie: Oh my God, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to...

Thirteen _(kindly)_: Oh no, it's all right. We'll get someone to clean this up.

_(But Katie isn't listening. She looks suddenly dizzy as she holds her head in her hands. She starts blinking hard, as if her vision went fuzzy. Thirteen moves toward her.)_

Thirteen _(urgently)_: What is it?

Katie: The room's spinning...

_(The heart monitor begins to beep faster, and Katie is breathing in short, painful gasps as she grips her head even harder. She squeezes her eyes shut.)_

Katie _(whimpering)_: Ow! Ow, it hurts...

_(Katie suddenly screams out in pain, and Thirteen takes action.)_

Thirteen _(shouting to the nurses' station across the hall)_: I need 15 mg morphine, stat!

**End Scene 2**

**~To Be Continued~

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**

**A/N: For any of you old Seinfeld fans who understood that Mickey Mantle joke, I love you:) Please review!**


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